Feedback Complete.
GroupGel is a one-stop, cloud-based application that makes it easier to manage groups, get people involved, and communicate with group members.
Target Audience: churches, schools, non-profits, businesses with field teams, informal groups, political groups, sports teams
Website URL: www.groupgel.com
No. of Feedback Providers Requested: 2
Feedback sought:
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
2) Do you find the value proposition compelling?
3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
1) The home page appears rather standard and conveys information about the application in general, including the creator and some of his background.
2) With some a decent amount of publicity I think the site/app could really take off. People are always looking for others with similar interests and, more or less, struggle to find groups over the net. This could take off in a great direction, especially if it markets it’s advantages over Google Groups.
3) If I was looking for people for a club, group or organization; I would use it. Even if you are using it’s competition, Google Groups, always have a wide net; some people on GroupGel may not be on Google Groups and would allow you to get more people interested.
4) I looked up Google Groups, which was mentioned in GroupGel’s video, and found that Google Groups is very technical and, almost, clunky to use. This site/app seems user friendly for people who are not tech savvy.
5) I think this could really take off and help people in a very good way. From helping hobbyists, looking for others with similar interests, to a bigger organization/group that could use some more man power to help what they stand for, GroupGel could assist these people/groups reach their manpower/membership goals!
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
My first impression is the color scheme. Â It is not bad but the logo green is a different color than then buttons (such as the “send a message button). Â Is this a website for friend groups? Â Is it a website for work groups? Â I could not figure that question out from the main page. Â Overall I was unsure of what the site does unless I clicked on different buttons to find out more.
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2) Do you find the value proposition compelling?
I could not see much of a difference in this service vs email.  There are some added features such as the ability to take surveys and the ability to have community forums.  I don’t see the value for a normal everyday person as they don’t have a lot of stuff going on or a lot of friends.  To get all your friends to sign up for a site is a long stretch. Â
I do see the value for a small business for this application.  If you were unable to have your own company sharepoint site (or something similar) this product would come in very handy.  I have worked in many fields that all use “groups”.  While it will still be easier to email, I could see the forums coming in very handy for people asking little questions.  I also think the work place value is the survey part of the website.  At my job they send out a “surveymonkey.com” survey to people to complete for everything from “Christmas Party Invites” to “What should the next potluck be”.
Overall, I have mixed emotions for the value proposition.  I don’t find it very compelling in personal use but I find it compelling in the business use.
3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
I am not.  I don’t see much use for it in my personal life.  It would be hard to get my friends to sign up for such a service to use.  If I was a HR or Business Technical Lead at a small or large office I would be encouraged to sign up for a few accounts and trial run the service.
4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
There is no real products out there that do everything that this service does. Â If I were just interested in the groups I would probably do something like google plus groups. Â The reason behind this is because more people are on google (gmail, g+, youtube, etc). Â For the survey part a site like surveymonkey or anyother free survey providers are just horrible and ad ridden. Â I would much rather prefer this product.
5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
Videos are cheesy and a very old (by internet) standards. Â These videos were funny two years ago, not so much now.
Push more for the mobile application side of the service. Â I would be more compelled if I had this as a phone app rather than a website app. Â
Site design overall is pretty good. Â All pages are pretty uniform. Â Not to much going on to distract me.